Member Pricing

Non-Member Pricing

"This is emphatically not a typical melodrama...and thank god for that!"

– Kevin Langson, The Edge San Francisco

"An understated, sensitive film!"

– David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle

Synopsis

Adam is a Catholic priest who discovered his calling as a servant of God at the relatively late age of 21. He now lives in a village in rural Poland where he works with teenagers with behavioral problems who fight and yell abuse. He declines the advances of a young blonde named Ewa, saying he is already spoken for. However, celibacy is not the only reason for his rejection. Adam knows that he desires men and that his embrace of the priesthood has been a flight from his own sexuality. When he meets Lukasz, the strange and taciturn son of a simple rural family, Adam's self-imposed abstinence becomes a heavy burden.

Customer Reviews

Paul Allaer - Customer Review"In The Name Of..." (2013 release from Poland; 102 min.) brings the story of Father Adam, a Catholic priest who has been transferred from a parish in Warsaw to a parish in the country-side of Poland, literally in the middle of nowhere. There he heads a center of troubled teenage boys, who will be sent back into the (presumably much harder) state system if they don't behave. Adam struggles with loneliness, as he takes confession after confession, but he himself has nowhere to turn with his troubles, other than the occasional contact with his faraway sister who lives in Toronto. Adam fends off the advances of a young woman Ewa, telling her that yes he finds her attractive but "I'm already spoken for". Then Adam strikes a bond with one of the troubles teens, a boy named Lukasz. To tell you more of the plot would ruin your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Several comments: this movie is a complex priesthood/troubled youth drama that addresses a lot of issues, none more so than the loneliness of Father Adam. At one point he is Skype-ing with his sister in Toronto when he is feeling desperate. He asks her "Do you have someone to hug? I need someone I can hug". The movie does a great job walking a thin line between true desperation and sheer overkill. The photography in the movie is outstanding, filming it in a sun-drenched way (sometimes reminding me of magic-realism). The acting is also superb, none more so that the Polish actor in the role of Father Adam. And any movie that finds a place for Band of Horses' "The Funeral" (in is pivotal moment of the movie, no less) gets extra brownie points. But wait! there is more! As is always the case, the DVD has a bonus shortie, and this month we get "Summer Vacation", a 22 min. shortie from Israel that is equally delightful, just watch! Bottom line, if you are in the mood for a quality foreign movie that is miles away from your standard Hollywood fare, you cannot go wrong with "In the Name Of...", and this is yet another worthy addition to the ever-growing and rich Film Movement library of foreign and indie movies. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Jeff in Seattle - Customer ReviewHave you heard about the closeted gay Catholic priest? Well, you probably haven't seen this film. Sure, it sounds cliched, but this character study film is very well done! The priest, Adam, is a closeted gay running a center for boys from a local reformatory. Although married to his religion, he secretly loves the boys. He tries so hard to supress his feelings throughout the film.

Jeff in Seattle - Customer ReviewWhoops! I forgot to assign a rating! Additional note: Beautiful cinematography and score! I love the haunting image of the forest. It looks like an interior of a cathedral. Awesome!

Photos

Click photo to enlarge. Then copy as you would any online image.

Director Małgośka Szumowska

Adam (Andrzej Chvra) and Humpty (Mateusz Kościukiewicz) in IN THE NAME OF

Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives a very unusual man. His fellow-monks are confused by his bizarre conduct. Those who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future. However, he considers himself unworthy because of a sin he committed in his youth. The film is a parable, combining the realities of Russian everyday life with monastic ritual and routine.

For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex (Ines Efron,) who was born an intersex child.Â As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son Ãlvaro (Martin Piroyanski.) Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity, and forces both families to face their worst fears.

A gifted young teacher takes a job teaching natural sciences at a grammar school in the country. Here he makes the acquaintance of a woman and her troubled 17-year old son. The teacher has no romantic interest in the woman but they quickly form a strong friendship, each recognizing the other's uncertainties, hopes and longing for love. When the teacher's ex-boyfriend comes to visit from the city, he quickly realizes that nobody in the village knows that the teacher is gay and harbors a secret affection for the teenage boy. His jealous actions set in motion a series of events that will test the inner strength and compassion of the teacher, the woman and her son to a breaking point.

Silviu has only two weeks left before his release from a hostile juvenile detention center. But when his mother, who abandoned him long ago, returns to take his younger brother away - a brother Silviu raised like a son â€“ those two weeks become an eternity. While his outcries for help fall on deaf ears, he finds himself mercilessly taunted and harassed by the other inmates. And just as Silviu's frustration evolves into full-throttled aggression, he is introduced to a beautiful social worker that he can only dream of being close to. Faced with a slew of conflicting emotions and wild with desperation, Silviu is driven to a surprising act of defiance as he makes a last grasp for freedom.

Having recently returned to her native Italy after living in Switzerland for 10 years, quiet but curious 13-year-old Marta is left to her own devices while her loving but worn-out mother toils away at an industrial bakery. Marta's only source of socialization is the local church, where she is told to attend preparatory classes for her confirmation. But the doctrines of Roman Catholicism offer little in terms of life lessons or consolation, and she quickly sees through the hypocrisy of the priest, who cares more about status than about his constituents. Eventually, Marta forges her very own way of the cross, which turns out to have much less to do with God than with her own climb towards adulthood.